<beginning of the session>
EarthScorpion: So, laying down the groundwork. Firstly, Keris is at the moment in Terema, and it has sizeable markets selling both the plunder from Taira as well as resupplies for mercenaries, so weapons of all kinds. If she wants to resupply or get her hands on anything particular for her false flag operation, she might be able to do it here.
Aleph: Can she find any... hmm. Well, yeah. Can she find any Thornsian weapons there?
EarthScorpion: Roll me Reaction + Bureaucracy for shopping around
Aleph: 5+0+2 Coadj=7. 2 sux.
EarthScorpion: Keris runs into the general problem that... there kind of aren't any particularly characteristic Thornsian weapons, even when she pokes around between the bulk sellers of firedust imported from the South and the people who promise they can outfit her with quarrels for a whole company. She doesn't know enough to recognise if any are made there, but she doubts it - most of the stuff here is probably made locally or a product of the endless forges of Nexus.
Aleph: Ah well. Worth a shot. Hmm. In that case... mmph. While using her Lance is tempting; it's really recognisable. Probably better to loot one of the spears from Eshtock itself to use as her weapon for this combat.
Aleph: So yeah, I can't think of... hmm. Is it worth rolling to think of anything I've missed that might come in handy?
EarthScorpion: Well, if she wants a replacement polearm or something, they have plenty. Mercenaries love polearms. Big butchery cleaver things, pikes, things from the South that are apparently a tube of firedust tied onto a pole that a horse charges into and then sets off... lots.
EarthScorpion: Hmm, actually, which artefacts does she have stashed on her person that she could use instead?
Aleph: Yeah, but one of the Eshtock spears is a nice touch - a spear that's been soaked in death and trapped up there for a very long time. And they're good quality weapons. Artefact-wise... hah, yes, actually.
Aleph: I shall roll Hoard.
EarthScorpion: No, I'm genuinely unclear what she kept. Did she keep the madness sword she got from... somewhere?
Aleph: The Hegran black-lightning madness sword she took off the demon slavers she Happened to in Cecelyne is in there, yes. As is Harmonious Jade's bow (which Calesco has), the fire elemental's tumbaga sword (which Haneyl has, so actually that's probably with her)... hmm. A few other things, I think.
EarthScorpion: Oh yeah, yeah, she melded most of that stuff into her Exalted Weapons Hoard trait or gave it to her babbies, didn't she?
Aleph: Yes, that's what I meant.
Aleph: ... well.
Aleph: More accurately, she melded it all into her Hoard, and then her babbies stole some of it.
Aleph: because they are teriblu
EarthScorpion: Okay, so what's she looking for in Hoard (which has probably also had things randomly stolen in Malfeas, or, sigh, picked up by her kids when they were free in Malfeas without telling her about it)?
Aleph: Dammit kids. Hmm. Anything death-tainted or with a deathly aura about it - something she can pass off as an artefact from the Underworld or connected to the Dead. If she can't find anything like that, something suitably Solar might ironically work, since deathknights are probably known to sometimes go after Solar tombs.
EarthScorpion: Okay, so Cog + Occult to rummage, with a +1 "equipment bonus" from how the snek is feeling happy and sated from how Keris had 'fun' with Orange Blossom and feels she came out on top.
Aleph: Mwaa haa. 3+5+1 equipment+4 Metagaos ExSux {someone else's expense (kind of), seize}=9. Haha! 6+4=10 sux! Woo hoo!
EarthScorpion: Okay, so Keris finds
- A pair of brutal twin blades made from demon-bone. Mechanically, paired short daiklaives. The demon skulls on the pommel glow faintly, and they always return to the hand if thrown.
- A beautful ornate orichalcum dire lance with two heads that looks like
Orthos Prime.
Remember, she can only have 2 dots of Exalted Weapons out at once
EarthScorpion: Once you have your pick, you can stunt returning to the Eshtock area as you wish.
Aleph: ...
fuck, you give hard choices. Argh. On the one hand, SKULLS. On the other hand, ORTHOS PRIME, nnngh.
EarthScorpion: Also, do note for the stunt that she can't add this to her Dread Panoply, if she wants to avoid giving Adorjani clues. So she'll either need to carry it or have Dulmea hold onto it.
...
<after letting the hungry ghosts loose>
Aleph: oh, keris
Aleph: Calesco is going to kick your ass for this.
EarthScorpion: Hee. Going well? Feels right?
Aleph: Yup.
Aleph: Definitely evocative as to the kind of horrors you can encounter from Contagion-traps.
Aleph: Sigh. This may give Keris a minor tie towards disposing of such sites wherever she finds them in future.
EarthScorpion: Hee. I was dropping hints that you could have bought some firedust at the markets.
Aleph: I know, but explosions are more Naan's thing, and the Dead are a potent distraction as is. If I was faking being a Solar I'd probably have gone for it. Solar Keris seems like the kind of person who likes her firedust.
EarthScorpion: And yeah, I try to go straight J-horror for hungry ghosts
Aleph: it works : S
EarthScorpion: That yidak scene is totally drawn by Junji Ito.
Aleph: y-you monster
...
Aleph: Hmm. How many ways does Keris have to do long-term body art?
EarthScorpion: Define "long term"?
Aleph: Tattoos, obviously, which she can do painlessly and without healing time because she's not puncturing the skin to get the ink in there. Things that aren't just paint that washes off as soon as you take a bath. Cosmetic mutations, which are basically really elaborate birthmarks. Thaum paint that needs a special solvent... honestly, that stuff is basically skin dye with a unbinding agent to get it off.
Aleph: So at least four, heh.
Aleph: Scarification, actually. Five.
EarthScorpion: The sorcerous version of Spiteful Sea Tincture, too.
EarthScorpion: ... and, uh, arguably she can use Theft As Release to remove other people's body art.
Aleph: *snrrk*
EarthScorpion: Incidentally, one function of TAR you never use is "enhancing attacks against things to take it away from everyone".
Aleph: ... true, yes.
EarthScorpion: And "persuading people to sell things"
EarthScorpion: (notably it also penalises their defences against "sell me this thing" by your Compassion)
...
EarthScorpion: Dammit zana, stop turning your one night stands into art pieces. You'll make Calesco mad at you.
Aleph: Zana: "Implying she's not already mad at me."
EarthScorpion: Zana: "Anyway, it's hardly my fault. He said he was hung like a horse. I stopped him from being a liar."
Calesco: "You turned him into a centaur."
Zana: "I thought you hated lies."
EarthScorpion: Sigh, yes, That's Zana's thing. It's not that she turns her lovers into artwork or mutates them for her amusement. It's that she does it to people who over-promise and can't fulfil their promises. She does the literal genie thing, because in many ways she's the most fay (and fae) one. And that's the same thing she abides to in most of her life. It's
disappointment she reacts to very badly in all her life. If you sell her street food and it isn't very good, she'll be perhaps mildly irked. If you sell the same food and tell her that it'll be the best fried rice she's ever eaten, that's when she snatches you up and traps you within the painted side of a rice bowl.
EarthScorpion: (Haneyl would just scorf down the rice, tell you it was awful, and refuse to pay for it)
EarthScorpion: Sigh. And that may be one of the great roots of Zanara's disagreements with Eko, especially Zana's (because Nara lies to people to butter them up). Eko considers words cheap and lies things to tell when it's more fun than the alternative. Zana hates being lied to.
Aleph: ... heh. On the other hand, it's a frame of mind that Rathan actually understands quite well when he orients himself right. It's not so different to Payback, really.
EarthScorpion: ... hee. You realise, that means the advertising in the Isles is
interesting.
"Quite nice street food, not the best, but definitely better than some others in this street! Get it hot and cheap!"
Aleph: haha
Aleph: yes
Aleph: It is technically perfectly
legal to lie in your advert. It's just that doing so risks Zanara showing up and asking you to follow through on it.
Aleph: It also means that when something
does advertise "the best ice cream in the Isles", you can be sure that they're either crazy or they can
back it the hell up.
Aleph: (Though it will probably include a tag that says "that's made by a citizen".)
EarthScorpion: Which, sigh. Means they make a
big thing about annual competitions and rankings and tournaments and people challenging each other. Because if you win and can legitimately call yourself the best, that's something that will make you rich
EarthScorpion: Haneyl: *nods*
Haneyl: "My adorable little imouto-chan has learned well from me about how to keep your citizens from getting fat and lazy. Keep them in constant competition with one another."
EarthScorpion: Hmm. Given that, I wonder if it's Zanara who's got "the reason Keris got mad at Orange Blossom" in their portfolio.
Aleph: Hmm?
Aleph: Back when Keris originally got mad at her? Hah, yes, possibly.
EarthScorpion: Yeah, Zanara is the side of Keris that got super nettled about Orange Blossom not being there when she needed her.
...
EarthScorpion: So, you didn't feel I was pressing too hard or anything? Or feel railroaded?
Aleph: no, no, it's fine
Aleph: It's, mm. You know how something can be
engaging and
cool but not
fun? Like a dark tv series - you can't really say that watching it is
fun, but you like doing so.
Aleph: I'm definitely
enjoying the game, this session was just a lot more "drama" and "serious" than usual.
EarthScorpion: Mmm. I just felt Dulmea had to hammer things home because you weren't taking the security risks of a DB sorcerer - who among other things, probably knows Stormwind Rider or Flight of Birds or something like that - properly. And it was either have Dulmea shout at you, or do something IC that might have you feeling cheated.
Aleph: Yeah. I was already intending to knock her out and chain her up and stab her the instant she showed any sign of shaping sorcery, but it worked.
EarthScorpion: And yes, heh, the "Kimberyian non-lethal poison can keep someone unconscious until they learn an anti-Poison Charm" thing is a thing, by basically just filling their body with doses by leaving them in contact with the sorcerous-painted object.
Aleph: yes, heh
Aleph: One thing Keris can do there is just put one of her slingstones in their mouth (and then leave them face-down so they don't choke).
EarthScorpion: Keris: "Okay, so, I'm going to keep her unconscious and try to brainwash her with social attacks at her dreams."
Calesco: "I'm not helping you do that."
Keris: "You actually can't stop me."
Aleph: But she's intending here to give her to Orange Blossom in a state where if Orange Blossom wants to pretend to be an Abyssal from Thorns as well, everything will hold up.
EarthScorpion: Well, yes, that's the "keeping to the agreement" way of doing things, rather than the Louise-esque "Nope! I'mma gonna keep them!" way.
EarthScorpion: Or, you know. Could always give them to an Unquestionable.
EarthScorpion: Calesco: "I'm going on strike if you do that."
...
EarthScorpion: Heh, the "she's getting into her armour" thing was a tutorialisation thing about "how long it takes to take on armour".
Aleph: yes, lol
EarthScorpion: By RAW, it's 30 seconds plus 1 minute per dot of the mobility penalty.
Aleph: Keris's Rosethorn is bullshit for being a 30-second 0-Mobility Iron Man suit.
EarthScorpion: That's one of the many reasons Moonsilver armour is disgusting.
Aleph: : 3
EarthScorpion: And yes, in my plan, that was only what you got if you went after her in the first five minutes of the attack.
EarthScorpion: If you didn't do that, she showed up in dragon armour with the others and basically started shredding the ghosts.
Aleph: >_<
EarthScorpion: Likewise, if he'd got the spell off, around 7/8ths of the ghosts would have died, because they were all clumped into a tiny area for his Death of Magma Butterflies.
EarthScorpion: Instead
EarthScorpion: you basically
EarthScorpion: uh, well, you basically Wyld-Hunted them.
EarthScorpion: You got them distracted by fighting a big obvious threat, then you charged in with an elite kill team.
Aleph: : D
...
EarthScorpion: Hmm. What does Keris actually believe in, and what things will she pray to? Because thinking about things, she only tends turn interact with gods when she can be a peer. She doesn't seem to have any good luck things she does or have a god like Briar would mutter little things to the trickster or the good health goddess.
Aleph: Hmm. Yes, I sort of forgot to develop her faith when I built her and she's wound up a bit atheistic, insofar as such is possible in Exalted. Hmm. Well, starting from the beginning...
Aleph: When she was very, very little, she knew about the river god and possibly a couple of other immediately relevant ones and that was it.
Aleph: She promptly forgot them all along with most of the details of her family and town during the two years with Kasseni; possibly out of self-defence.
EarthScorpion: Also, the sun, because Northern Taira is very sun worshipping.
Aleph: Oh Keris. She's always been a bit Adorjani, after all. She cut loose those memories because it was easier than hurting over them.
Aleph: Yes, and the sun she remembered, I think - and because it did nothing to stop her being taken or intervene, I think that's where her sort of
Thing against the high gods developed.
Aleph: She resents them more than a bit, for being powerful when she wasn't and accepting worship from those who hurt her - she heard her captors praying, and they were the same prayers, more or less.
Aleph: We know she barely interacted with the Immaculate Faith - enough that she didn't really fight being an Anathema much, and only really knew the word from stories about them being evil powerful monsters something something.
Aleph: So that leaves the other little gods.
Aleph: Hmm
EarthScorpion: Sigh. She's not really atheistic. She's really more maltheistic towards the big gods, with the exception of the moon
Aleph: Since we can retcon the earliest arcs as we like, I think maybe going to Hell and meeting the Unquestionable shook up her faith and... heh. Yes, she thought a lot like Faith. She thought in terms of bargains and pacts; promises to little terrestrial tricksters or thief-spirits or city gods and payment for favours and bargains and so on.
EarthScorpion: And the little gods are kind of more a business transaction. They're like someone on the street you have a deal with. You pay them to not rat on you and to help you out. They're not the same thing as the big gods - they're more like elementals, things that exist and you'd be a fool to deny.
Aleph: And then she went to Hell and got hit with the Unquestionable.
Aleph: And now she... basically has the same sort of understanding, but at a much higher level. The little gods she used to pray to are weaker than her now - and she came out of the Chrysalis able to
see that.
Aleph: The Unquestionable work on bargains and business transactions too; but she's not one beseeching them out of the masses; she's an elite subordinate.
Aleph: Her faith has basically shifted sideways into her extreme wariness of offending or angering any Third Circles - the way she treads super-carefully around them and is all tense and nervous whenever she has to speak to them in person.
Aleph: (Whereas I suspect Sasi is... not exactly more
casual, but she's used to bargaining and politicking with them, and doesn't treat it as stepping into a hazardous obstacle course every time she has an audience with them.)
Aleph: Yeah, IEI and her first trip to Hell were the big things that shook her street-rat worship.
Aleph: And, heh. She doesn't pray much because she knows her prayers are worth something and is wary of throwing that around and getting more Unquestionable attention.
Aleph: (Also she's arrogant enough in her skills now that she doesn't feel like she needs every last possible scrap of luck she can get.)
EarthScorpion: And, sigh. The fact that she's been closer to Yozis than basically anyone and slept with Adorjan and that was basically a religious experience really warped her capacity to believe in other things.
Aleph: "oh, you're an ocean god"
"Deity of the third rank, Cult 3, I see."
"Wow. I'm so honoured to meet you."
"Why, you're about as powerful as my looks-like-a-six-year-old youngest child."
"Truly, I am terrified."
EarthScorpion: The worst thing is that Keris' demonic familiars are as powerful as many gods. Even more so once they're at +1 enlightenment.
Aleph: Priest: "Begone, demon!"
Rounen: "Or what?"
EarthScorpion: The median inhabitant of her soul is as powerful as a god of the second rank.
Aleph: well, depends on how many E0 akuma there are in there.
EarthScorpion: The median self aware inhabitant.
Aleph: But yes, the median citizen, certainly. And mode.
EarthScorpion: Most adult keruby are E3, so adult Rounen is E4.
...
EarthScorpion: If I may say something
Aleph: ?
Aleph: you generally don't ask permission first
EarthScorpion: I think you're sort of running into the problem that your plans are, I realised brushing my teeth, kind of the plans for a three man party. Of a political/war sort to be the pirate queen, the zenith to be the dancer/politician, and the twilight alchemist and experimenter.
Aleph: hmm
Aleph: yes
Aleph: And Keris is trying to fill all three roles.
Aleph: yes
Aleph: bluh
EarthScorpion: At least for the twilight, you can broadly outsource some of that to Keris' souls as "party members". And even potentially the pirate queen, at least in a few years time once the souls have grown up a bit and maybe even studied with someone on how-to-war.
Aleph: Yeah - I was actually thinking of just putting Haneyl in charge of "set me up with some plant tech yo" and letting her handle that angle.
EarthScorpion: But it still might be an idea to focus more.
Aleph: Mmm.
